PyNTTTTGT Oligonucleotides as Tools in Tissue Repair Procedures

ANDRÉS HERNANDO INSUA ,; ALEJANDRO D. MONTANER; JUAN M. RODRIGUEZ; FERNANDA ELÍAS; JUAN FLÓ; RICARDO LÓPEZ; JORGE ZORZOPULOS

Topics in Tissue Engineering,

N. Ashammakhi, R. Reis & E. Chiellini

Año: 2007; p. 247 - 260

Bone marrow (BM)-derived adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have the capacity to differentiate into different cell lines in vitro. This capacity makes them a likely cellular source for clinical application in tissue repair therapies. In our laboratory we have recently discovered that immunostimulatory oligonucleotides of the PyNTTTTGT class are potent stimulators for MSC expansion both in vitro and in vivo. This suggested the possibility of clinical use of PyNTTTTGT oligonucleotides in tissue repair therapies either by increasing the amount of MSC obtained in vitro in a given time or by increasing the amount of MSC available in vivo for the natural tissue repair system. Regarding this, we have found that treatment of osteoporosis and neuropathic pain, with PyNTTTTGT ODNs in animal models results in considerable improvement. The multiple activities of the immunostimulatory oligonucleotides of the PyNTTTTGT class suggest that they act on a vital center for organic homeostatic maintenance which coordinates not only the immunological defense against the aggression but also the subsequent tissue repair process stimulated by the damage produced by the aggression itself and/or by the associated defensive inflammatory process.